Parliament to prioritise new legislation to regulate e-hailing industry

CAPE TOWN – Parliament’s Transport Committee chairperson Donald Selamolela said new legislation will be prioritised to better regulate the e-hailing industry, following a substantial uptake in violence against e-hailing drivers in Soweto and KwaZulu-Natal.

Selamolela said the new e-hailing legislation to exercise more oversight over the sector, could also help ease tensions with the minibus taxi industry.

He said while the announcement is likely a response to the Maponya Mall incident last month, which saw an e-hailing driver killed, the National Land Transport Amendment (NLTA) Act has been on the books for well over a decade.

Selamolela was addressing an economics cluster briefing in Parliament on Monday.

“New legislation is being introduced to better regulate the e-hailing industry, following a substantial increase in violence against e-hailing drivers in Soweto and KZN. The minister of transport recently said that the National Land Transport Amendment (NLTA) Act would introduce regulations for e-hailing services like Bolt and Uber and could help ease tensions with the taxi industry.”

He said drivers will be vetted and subject to criminal record checks under the new regulations.

“Along with these regulations, the legislation has new security requirements for e-hailing drivers and their vehicles. This includes needing a panic button and drivers ensuring their profile photo is up-to-date for accurate client identification.”

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